Farewell Party is an autobiographical novel and consists of three sections. The first section shows two farewell rituals: an aged man in his late 70s performs in the high mountain before the tombs of his ancestors with a flutist playing Daegeum sanjo (a piece of traditional Korean melodies). The other ritual with a pansori song follows the first one before a tomb on the seashore of an uninhabited island. The book's second section appears as a flow of the aged man's consciousness, so it seems not to follow the physical sequence of time. The sea, which used to be near in his boyhood, turns up vividly through his retrospection. Then, unexpectedly, there appears a flamenco dancer.
He had met her one time in Portland when she was a little girl. He receives an email message from her informing him that she is to visit Tokyo. He flies to Tokyo imagining that the little sea returns to him, surrealistically changing itself into a flamenco dancer. And He recalls and misses a street guitarist, an amateur magician, and painters in Changdong who are alive or not in this world. But unfortunately, he's not in good health, so he secluded himself from society.
In the final section, the aged man, living alone since then, is drawn to an unavoidable voice of conscience from within: Join those who resist social injustice. So he orders himself to go outside and join the demonstrations against the election fraud in the April 15 General Election. He is sure the country will face a severe social crisis resulting from that illegal election committed by the ruling party under the threatening Coronavirus pandemic atmosphere.
- ISBN13 9791220115247
- Publish Date 18 January 2022
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 28 July 2023
- Publish Country IT
- Imprint Europe Books
- Format Paperback
- Pages 221
- Language English
- URL http://europebookstore.com/products/farewell-party-joon-kim/